Chapter 18: A Cultivation World Tycoon Mentions Her

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Yun Zhi: …? What, opening the points mall costs 1,000 points? Sigh, it’s an exclusive market, so I have no choice but to open it! The hard-earned points instantly dropped by 1,000.

The buttons under the chat group changed from the original three to four: [Personal Space] [Task Commission] [Points Mall] [Personal Center?]

Yun Zhi had many expectations and ideas about the points mall. Obviously, materials easily found in the real world would never appear in the points mall.

But if the points mall sells materials from other worlds…

Yun Zhi was a bit puzzled. Take the health-boosting potions as an example—if she could buy them with points in the mall, wouldn’t she lose the motivation to trade or undertake commissions with Qin Tianhai?

Of course, this feature wasn’t entirely useless. If someday she lost contact with Qin Tianhai or he had no need for her to purchase anything or assign tasks, she would still have a channel to buy materials from the high martial arts world, which was quite good.

But that was just Yun Zhi’s earlier imagination.

When she actually opened the points mall, she discovered there were only two stores… Strictly speaking, not goods, but shops—and only one was usable to her now.

[Spatial Safe House]: A 10-square-meter safe house with a sofa, comfortable and secure, featuring floor-to-ceiling windows providing external views, for the host to use in emergencies to seek refuge.

Price 1: 200 points/day, for refuge only, you remain in place after exiting, can enter multiple times within one day.

Price 2: 300 points/day, besides refuge, offers the ability to move the safe house’s exit location outside, so you can exit in different places.

PS: When activating the spatial safe house, ensure no direct witnesses are present; surrounding electronic surveillance devices will temporarily malfunction.

Yun Zhi: … Although the cost is high, I have to say, it’s damn attractive!

With this spatial safe house, if she encountered danger in reality or took on risky commissions, she would have a life-saving ace up her sleeve!

Not to mention, this space isn’t fixed in place; paying extra points lets her choose a safe exit, which can also be used to tail villains discreetly…

Very nice!

Unfortunately, Yun Zhi only had 490 points left in her account, so she couldn’t use this feature many times.

But having it was better than not!

Besides the spatial safe house, there was another shop in the points mall.

[Cross-Dimensional Travel House]: Under development, will officially open when the host reaches level 3—stay tuned… Please accumulate more points!

PS: The precondition for cross-dimensional travel: there must be a traveler the host knows in the target world who is willing to act as your guide!

Yun Zhi: … Ridiculous. I reasonably suspect the chat group system is just dangling a carrot to encourage me to do more tasks!

But I must admit, I was indeed attracted by that carrot.

Cross-dimensional travel, as the name suggests, means traveling to other worlds. Based on that hint, the travel destinations are the various worlds where the chat group members reside.

Tang Panpan’s 1970s world is out of the question. That era strictly screened identities. Without a letter of introduction and no clear explanation of one’s origins, forging a fake identity is easy, but if exposed, she could be treated as a vagrant or enemy agent and arrested, possibly implicating Tang Panpan.

Knowing Tang Panpan was safe there was enough.

Cen Junfei’s apocalypse world? No one wants to go to an apocalypse.

The ancient matriarchal world is quite worth visiting, but according to Chi Xiaoyu, women there are mostly tall and powerful, and she would be an outlier. If she went, who knows who would be the spectacle? Besides, that ancient matriarchal world has martial arts masters… Before acquiring sufficient martial power, she wouldn’t consider going there.

Mu Xue’s eerie world is even more dangerous than the apocalypse. Probably only Tao Qi would want to go there, and that’s because he knows nothing about the eerie world.

Qin Tianhai’s high martial arts world is a place where vital energy exists! Yun Zhi was somewhat curious and longing. But if she could only go for a day or two, it wouldn’t help much. According to Qin Tianhai, ordinary people without any vital energy inside are considered utterly useless there!

Yun Zhi opened the member list of the chat group and suddenly saw a member’s name at the top—

Immortal Cultivation World—Purple Extreme True Immortal.

Wow, the legendary immortal cultivation world! She really wanted to go! Who could resist the allure of immortal cultivation?

Not only can one become stronger, but also extend lifespan!

But she didn’t know Purple Extreme True Immortal at all, no prior interaction.

Clicking on his profile showed two lines of information: [Full Shield Mode Activated] [Status Signature: Do Not Disturb, Secluded Cultivation].

The “Private Chat” button at the bottom was greyed out, unclickable.

Yun Zhi thought carefully and was sure she had never received a notification about this member joining the group.

That meant he had been in the group long before she joined but had never appeared due to his secluded cultivation.

On the day she joined, Cen Junfei had said something like, “Except for one elder who’s been in seclusion, everyone here died once on Earth and crossed over to other worlds.”

“That elder hadn’t died, but his body on Earth became a vegetative state.”

But Yun Zhi was new then and didn’t know who that elder was, and was busy with tasks, so she never thought about it again.

Previously, whenever Yun Zhi wanted to privately chat with someone in the group, she clicked their avatar in the group chat, and after chatting, they automatically appeared in her friends list.

This was really the first time she opened the member list.

Now, looking back, she realized Purple Extreme True Immortal was no ordinary person… Cen Junfei’s words implied that the elder’s body on Earth was still stable but in a vegetative state?

Currently, only seven members appeared in the list: Purple Extreme True Immortal, Qin Tianhai, Mu Xue, Cen Junfei, Tang Panpan, herself, and Chi Xiaoyu, seemingly sorted by join order.

Yun Zhi opened a private chat with Tang Panpan.

Among the group friends, the one she trusted most was, of course, her close friend.

“Panpan, are you asleep?”

Instant reply: “Not yet!”

Tang Panpan happily said, “Thanks to you, I have all the supplies I need! I gave Auntie Feng a pound of brown sugar, sold her two pounds of milk powder at a very reasonable price without requiring a receipt, and she agreed to let me use her kitchen for cooking meat.

Then, using delicious mushroom meat sauce and braised spare ribs, I successfully won over Auntie Feng’s appetite! She rented her room to me!

This afternoon after work, I moved out of the youth point and became Auntie Feng’s tenant, paying only two pounds of rice or two pounds of flour as rent each month.

Now, I’m lying on the bed, reading the novel you downloaded for me on my phone, hehe!”

Tang Panpan had previously shared some of her current situation with Yun Zhi.

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She was sent to the countryside in the Northeast Black Province—the hottest spot for female protagonists in period novels!

The youth point Tang Panpan stayed at had seven people sleeping on a large shared kang bed.

Besides being cramped, there were many conflicts.

Some were petty thieves who even stole toothpaste and soap.

Some, seeing others eat peach crisp or egg cake, would accuse them of being capitalist daughters.

Some pretended to be nice but secretly incited fools to fight for them.

Some were foolish pawns unaware of being used like firecrackers.

There was also a suspected reincarnated schemer, a naive romantic rich girl who went to the countryside for love, and a certain Red Third Generation male youth who formed a love triangle daily.

On the male youth side, there were many unsavory characters as well.

It was lively, with endless gossip, but also lots of trouble, sometimes involving Tang Panpan.

She originally wanted to build her own house and move out, but that would be too conspicuous and unsafe living alone.

So, she set her eyes on Auntie Feng’s house in the village, known for her straightforward personality.

Auntie Feng’s husband had joined the army years ago and was reported killed after a few years. She never remarried and raised a pair of children alone.

A few years ago, her son also enlisted.

The house was newly built a couple of years ago with money sent by her son—several houses with green bricks and tiled roofs. Many youth wanted to rent her house.

But Auntie Feng absolutely refused to let youth stay in her son’s room, even though he seldom returned.

In the two years since the new house was built, he had only come back once briefly.

Last month, Auntie Feng’s daughter, Cheng Aihong, married and moved to the commune, marrying her brother’s former comrade, who became the commune’s public security chief.

Cheng Aihong’s room was now empty, and the female youth at the youth point all vied to help Auntie Feng with chores and bring her things, hoping to rent that room.

In the end, Tang Panpan got it.

Yun Zhi joked, “I always feel that, according to period novel tropes, your destined one is probably Auntie Feng’s soldier son.”

Tang Panpan said, “I’ve never seen Auntie Feng’s son Cheng Aidong, but Auntie Feng says he’s very handsome, tall and handsome. At 23, he’s already a deputy battalion commander. Last year when he came home to visit, several girls ‘accidentally’ fell into the river as he passed by…

Cheng Aidong ran like the wind, calling a few capable women to help rescue them.

Some pretended to have twisted ankles or ‘accidentally’ fell, trying to bump into his arms, but none succeeded.

Auntie Feng says her son is very shrewd, and anyone trying to scheme against him is out of luck!”

Tang Panpan: “She tells me this to prevent me from having thoughts about her son! I tell you, absolutely not! I just want to get through these five years safely, wait for the 1977 college entrance exams to return to the city. I’m only 18 this year; graduating university at 27 or 28 and then marrying won’t be late!”

“For a partner, I’ll find one when I get to college, it won’t be too bad.”

“My short-term goal is to get the village broadcast announcer job! So I don’t have to do farm work every day for work points! I’ll also submit more pieces to major newspapers and publishers to earn some royalties and have an official income source.”

“Sometimes, when I go to the city, I’ll disguise myself as a man to sell goods, earn some small money and gold and jade, and aim to buy two courtyard houses in Beijing when I go to university, hehe!”

Yun Zhi was happy to see her friend had such clear and definite plans for her life.

After Tang Panpan finished, Yun Zhi asked about the group member “Immortal Cultivation World—Purple Extreme True Immortal.”

Tang Panpan said, “I joined late, so I don’t know much about this elder. Since I joined, I’ve never seen him appear.”

“Others never say his name directly. According to Cen Junfei, when the elder’s Dao name is mentioned by related people, he senses it.”

“We know he’s in seclusion and can’t be disturbed casually. We occasionally talk about him, but there’s nothing important, so we just call him ‘the elder.’”

“Actually, we rarely even remember there’s such a person in the group.”

Yun Zhi was shocked: “Ah? So now that I asked about him and mentioned his name, he won’t sense it, right?”

Tang Panpan said, “It’s fine. You can ask about the elder because you’re destined to meet him. Maybe he’ll come out of seclusion soon.”

Tang Panpan only heard a few mentions of this elder from others and didn’t know much. She suggested Yun Zhi ask Qin Tianhai, the earliest to join besides the elder, if she wanted to know more.

Yun Zhi saw that Qin Tianhai was also in [Full Shield] mode now, probably fully concentrating on absorbing vital energy or practicing martial arts.

Their private chat window existed before and could open, but her messages would be unread, and he had to cancel [Full Shield] mode to see them.

Yun Zhi thanked Tang Panpan and said good night.

She didn’t leave a message for Qin Tianhai, knowing the elder’s style was mysterious; when the time was right, they would naturally connect.

…

On the third day of the preview period, Yun Zhi had nothing to do, so she stayed in the hotel studying training and use of psychic power, becoming more skilled. This time, she could project her psychic power up to sixty meters.

She wanted to try the spatial safe house function but thought about the 200 points fee per trial and lost enthusiasm. She’d wait until necessary.

The next day was the Haicheng auction.

The auction started at 10:08 a.m.

At 8 a.m., Yun Zhi met Tao Qi in the hotel buffet.

After a delicious breakfast, Tao Qi said, “Hey, Sister Yun, I’ve prepared the gift in my room. Should I give it to you now or wait until after the auction when leaving Haicheng?”

Yun Zhi didn’t hesitate: “Give it to me now.”

The sooner she submitted the task, the sooner she earned points. One hundred points wasn’t much, but small gains add up.

Tao Qi hesitated, wanting to ask many things, like whether it was safe to leave the gift in her room since she probably wouldn’t bring him to the auction to hand over to Mu Xue.

He had placed his things in the hotel’s presidential suite safe!

Indeed, Tao Qi had spent money upgrading to that suite for the safe’s use.

Yun Zhi stayed in a regular deluxe suite without a safe.

After hesitating, Tao Qi said, “Maybe it’s better to wait until after the auction. The gift can stay in my room’s safe, which is safer.”

Yun Zhi: …

She would take the gift and immediately store it in her personal space, submit the task item—much less safe than any safe!

But she couldn’t explain that, or Tao Qi would know she could contact “friends below” even in broad daylight.

That would cause even bigger misunderstandings!

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Yun Zhi said, “Up to you!”

After returning to their rooms to pack, Tao Qi still came knocking with a nicely packaged gift box.

Tao Qi: “I thought about it, the hotel safe might not be safe either. What if some smart non-living entity suddenly appears and steals it?”

A safe can only protect against humans, not the eerie!

Yun Zhi: …

So “smart non-living entity” is the new name for eerie beings? Tao Qi really is good at naming things!

Yun Zhi took the gift box with a deadpan expression and closed the door.

The gift box was about the size of an eight-inch cake box, quite heavy. She only carried a small backpack and couldn’t fit it.

Regardless of whether Tao Qi misunderstood more, this was probably the case of having too many lice to itch and too many debts to worry.

Yun Zhi said, “Our flight back to Z City is tonight. Let’s go check out directly.”

Tao Qi: “Huh? Don’t we need to come back in the afternoon to get our stuff?”

He peeked into her room, still open behind her, seeming to check if the gift box was still there.

Yun Zhi calmly said, “No need to look. It’s not in there anymore.”

Tao Qi: …

Pupil tremble.jpg

His complicated expression was exactly as Yun Zhi expected: he didn’t expect she could contact others in broad daylight…

Yun Zhi’s forehead vein twitched: “Get out of my mind! Now go pack all your things. We’re checking out!”

Tao Qi’s look changed, filled with admiration, respect, and a bit of awe: “Okay, I’m on it.”

Yun Zhi: …

What is going on here?

Fortunately, Tao Qi knew his limits and didn’t ask more about it.

Earlier, Yun Zhi submitted the gift box to Mu Xue through the physical item red packet feature, earning +100 points, raising her total to 590. Sweet.

Mu Xue replied briefly: “Received. In a dungeon, will chat later.”

Dungeons in the eerie world were always dangerous; she didn’t expect Mu Xue to keep [Full Shield] mode off even inside.

Probably to get the gift first.

Looks like she can’t ask Mu Xue about Tao Qi’s gift for now.

And she didn’t want to ask Tao Qi either, fearing it would spiral into “I actually want to send Mu Xue many more gifts; could you help deliver more times?”

Besides, the chat group system wouldn’t allow multiple identical tasks in a short period to prevent endless point gains.

So, better not!

…

Arriving at the auction house.

Yun Zhi and Tao Qi were led by an attendant to VIP room B15.

The most prestigious VIPs were in rooms starting with A.

Tao Qi was reliable when not involving Mu Xue.

Before the auction officially started, he showed Yun Zhi the auction list, pointing out notable items.

“Your Imperial Green Bracelet is one of the three grand finale items.”

“Hey, here’s a special item—a mutton-fat white jade dragon ornament. They say if someone can wake up the heir of the Lu family, Lu Ziji, who’s been a vegetative patient for four years, they’ll give it away for free?”

Yun Zhi looked at the picture and was immediately drawn to that exquisite mutton-fat white jade dragon ornament.

“I know this ornament. Four years ago, at a Haicheng auction, it sold for eighty million, bought by the Lu family’s heir, Lu Ziji. They said he bought it as a gift for Lu elder’s 80th birthday, but before the birthday, he got into an accident.”

“He’s been a vegetative patient for four years now, probably with little hope of waking up, unless…”

Tao Qi glanced at Yun Zhi and stopped talking.

Yun Zhi understood the unsaid implication.

The last known successful awakening from a vegetative state was her mother, Ran Yao, who used the health-boosting potion.

Qin Tianhai still had two bottles of such potions Yun Zhi had stored, but they were already promised to Tang Panpan and Cen Junfei.

Also, Ran Yao was comatose for just over two months, while Lu Ziji had been so for four years—the situations were entirely different. Yun Zhi didn’t know if the potion would work.

If he drank it but didn’t wake, it would be a huge loss.

Yet, looking at the jade dragon ornament’s picture, Yun Zhi inexplicably felt its value far exceeded eighty million and felt a strong desire to own it.

Although on the auction list, the item wasn’t for sale.

Even if the Lu family wanted to sell, Yun Zhi’s auction items wouldn’t fetch enough to cover the 30 million debt her father left, let alone 80 million.

At that moment, her WeChat in the travelers’ chat group suddenly received a new mention.

Immortal Cultivation World—Purple Extreme True Immortal: “@Yun Zhi, young friend, I’d like to ask a favor of you.”

Yun Zhi: …?

She had just noticed this elder from the immortal cultivation world last night, and now he had come out of seclusion and actively contacted her.

And it was right after she learned of Lu Ziji’s vegetative state for four years.

Isn’t this coincidence a bit too much!